Nearly three months after President Russell M. Nelson announced a “new balance and connection between gospel instruction in the home and in the Church” on Oct. 6, Latter-day Saints are preparing to implement the changes.

The “home-centered and Church-supported plan” necessitates an adjustment to the Church’s Sunday meeting schedule beginning January and provides the opportunity for families and individuals to study the gospel at home in a new way.

The changes are meant to help members increase faith and spirituality and deepen conversion, said Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and chairman of the Church’s Priesthood and Family Executive Council.

Church leaders hope members will do their best to teach and learn the gospel during a year when the Church is studying the Savior's life and ministry in the New Testament during Sunday School, said Elder Cook.

He recommends Church members spend some time with “Come, Follow Me — For Individuals and Families.” If they will prayerfully look at the manual and other resources, then they will be able to see how they can use them in a way that is “best for their individual and family situation,” he said.

They should make the hour they are given for home study “a joy and a delight,” counseled Elder Cook.

There is no reason families need to remain in Sunday dress, said Elder Cook. “Would it be wonderful to sing gospel hymns? Yes. Would it be wonderful to sing other music or engage in other enjoyable or uplifting activities? Yes.”

“The strongest feeling is that we should not regulate families or individuals or determine what they should do,” he said.

President Nelson promised Latter-day Saints during general conference that the inspired “organizational adjustments” — and extra time to study the gospel in the home — will “fortify our members and their families.”